The Followers of Sin
by dullaznboi
Summary: Ed and Al have been returned to their bodies, but it seems they have one more job to do before they can go home. Post Promised Day, Slight A/U. Will have eventual EdxWin
1. Into the Darkness

**A/N**: Hey guys, dullazboi here. So after reading so many different types of fan-fic (full metal alchemist related), I have decided to grow a pair and write my own. So this is my first fan-fic, set after the promised day. It's a mix of the first anime and the second anime/manga so I hope all goes well and that I don't epically fail..

Also, flames are welcome, as it will help me be a better write I hope *crosses fingers*. enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own full metal alchemist and its characters as well as any of the items that will be used in this story.

**4/29/13**: So I decided to reread this chapter, and surprisingly I found a _whole_ lot of grammatical and spelling errors lol. so hopefully I fixed all of them!Thanks for reading! Also fixed some formatting =]

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><p><strong>Present day<strong>

**Date: May 28th, 1944**

**Location: unknown**

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><p>A young man lays wide eyed as he stares at the ceiling of this dark hole they called a home. Years of running, hiding and escaping death is starting to take its toll on him as he turned uncomfortably on his side to stare at the boy who has stuck by his side since the beginning of this nightmare. Noticing his sleeping form, the young man decides not to wake the boy and sits up to once again survey the area around him. He along with a dozen others have been hiding out in an abandoned home for the past few days to avoid the patrols that were out searching endlessly for them. The house was quite hidden from view as it was literally situated in a bowl, with hills surrounding them from all sides. Despite the fact that the house was hidden from view, if anyone were to ever find them it would make escape nearly impossible; however, the young man took the assumption that because hiding in this house was near suicidal, that the officers of the raiding parties would think so too and thus not think that they would occupy the old building. So far things were finally going according to his plan.<p>

"Damn I wonder how long it's been since we escaped that hellish country" the young man asked himself as he laid back down. Using his left hand as a pillow, he placed his right hand about a foot away from his face and began staring absentmindedly at his it, moving his fingers and forming a fist every now and then as if it's been years since he's experienced these hearing a familiar voice, the state of sleep begins to lift from another young man.

"Mmm… Brother what are you still doing up? You need to try and get some rest, we got a long day tomorrow" said the younger brother as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, not turning to look at his older brother, who was sleeping on the spot to his right. When the younger brother didn't get a response, his eyes golden eyes quickly went from drowsy to sharp alertness as he sat up slightly and continued to keep calling out to his older sibling

"Brother...Brother... ED!"

"Wha?... What Al?" replied Ed as he blinked a few times and shook his head slightly, a clear indication that his thoughts were interrupted. He barely turned his head to face his younger brother, letting him know that he was listening.

However even though his brother was facing him, Al didn't think that he really did have his attention but decided to go ahead and try to find out what was on his mind anyway.

"Are you thinking about home brother?" asked Al who, after all these years of running still have yet to dissect his brother's mental state. _I really wonder what he always thinks about after everything that's happened._

"Yeah Al... you can say that I am" said Ed as his golden orbs immediately drifted back to his right hand.

_Heh… So that's what he's always been thinking about. _Al thought to himself as he noticed how deep in thought his brother was as he stared at his right hand. The memory brought upon a slight smile to the younger brother as his eyes slowly shifted to the ground, and he was glad that it was dark enough that Ed didn't notice._ Even though brother's right arm is made of flesh again, he must miss her a lot_. Lost in his own world, Al didn't notice Ed shifting his body towards him.

"Sometimes I still find it hard to believe our luck..." Ed's sudden words caused Al to look up, seeing that his older brother now had his full attention to him, lying on his left side and supporting his head with his left arm.

"I know what you mean brother," Al managed to get out as he also shifted his body towards Ed and mimicked his position.

"I thought that we were finally home free and away from all these things that kept trying to kill us," Ed finally said "only to have this thrown at us, it's like a slap to the face..."

Al began to sit up to try and get into a more comfortable position but was finding it hard, "I know brother, but right now the most we can do is survive long enough for us to find a way home."

"Al, you shouldn't even be up right now," said Ed as he closed the gap between his younger brother, "Your body still isn't up to full strength yet from being in the gate for so long"

"I'm fine brother, it's been a while since that happened" Al responded "and plus I'm strong enough to handle my own right now, but I'm just worried about what's going to happen, that's all."

"Look let me worry about that ok Al? Just get some rest... you'll need it more than I will" Ed said as he tried to help Al back into his makeshift bed of cold hard concrete and a jacket as a blanket.

As the younger brother began to once again drift off into his own realm, Ed manages to allow a small smile to grace his lips as he reminisced at all of the hardships that they both went through so that he can finally see his younger brother sleeping in flesh and bone and not an empty suit of armor.

_I didn't think it would turn of like this_ thought Ed as he got on his knees and slowly stood up knowing that sleep won't come to him tonight. _We've been through hell and back too many times to remember. And now were placed into another one._ Ed looked took a glance his little brother as determination flashed through his eyes. _Guess we'll just have to make one more trip._

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><p>A loud crash from upstairs shook Ed out of his thoughts and his first instinct was to run upstairs and bash the sentry that made the noise. However, he glided across the room instead of acting on impulse which is what would've happened if he was younger. When he reached the staircase he ran into the sentry that volunteered to keep look out while the others slept.<p>

"Samuel, what the hell happened?" Ed said in a dangerously low voice "this better be important if you risked waking up everyone up after what they've been through today"

"Yes I know, and you told me to not bother you unless it was an emergency but Ed you need to see this," Samuel pointed his chin back up the stairs "we might need to end up waking everyone up and getting the hell out of here" he told Ed as they quietly ran up the stairs. They reached a boarded up window at the end of a small hallway that had the entire view of the grasslands and Samuel handed Ed his binoculars

"Alright Samuel you need to tell me what the hell's going on" Ed whispered as he snatched the binoculars from his sentry, "if this is some kind of sick joke then... then..." Ed trailed off and couldn't manage to find his voice once he looked into the binoculars as his jaw dropped at the sight before him, the need to use the binoculars instantly became pointless.

About 30 foot soldiers and 4 panzer tanks equipped with high intensity search lights were slowly marching down the hills towards their house. From Ed's point of view they formed a horizontal line as a way to prevent any escape and to also cover the most ground as they slowly crawled. The search lights were slowly sweeping left and right, not hitting their house just yet and the actions looked all too familiar to the young man as they have experienced this plenty of times when they were running from these bastards.

_They're most likely combing the area._ Ed did a quick sweep and instinctively put the binoculars down knowing that there's no longer any use for it. _Shit, we won't last long if they caught up to us, some plan this is turning out to be. _He quickly turned back to Samuel.

"Samuel!"

"Yeah?"

"Run downstairs and wake everyone up. Judging by how slow their moving we might have a chance of sneaking out of here before those lights hit us. Get everyone prepped and ready to move the hell out!" Ed was starting to raise his voice and as Samuel ran down the stairs, he looked back out of the window to try and calculate any routes of escape and determine casualty rates for taking those routes.

_Damn, no good_, he scanned the field once more, _we'll get spotted as soon as we step foot out of this house. Damn it what have I just done to all of these people!?.._ Another thing to add to his list of mistakes and regrets as Ed sighed heavily. He looked blankly up at the cloudless yet starlit night sky and took a deep breath, reveling at the thought of how peaceful it can actually be if the war wasn't going on.

_They're almost like the stars and skies from back home, when it was just the three of us and I still had _her _with me. _The sudden thought of his mechanic slowly brought back some bittersweet memories as he once again became lost in his thoughts as he accidently allowed himself to remember. How she used to always smell like machine oil and lilacs, how she always manages to get some of that oil smudged on her face which Ed thought made her look even cuter, how her laughter was so contagious that it always made him want to giggle with her, and how her smile was able to light up anyone's day especially his and how seeing it always gave him a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach. _What I would give to see her smile one more time_ Ed reminisced sadly, _I was forced out of my world without so much as a goodbye to her…_

Unfortunately, the low rumbling of the tank's caterpillar tracks and murmuring shattered Ed's dream and preferred reality as he was forced back into the world of who-knows-where. He shook his head and replaced his expressionless face into the kill-or-be-killed look he always puts on before heading off into battle.

_Damn it, no! _Ed pounded his left fist onto the decaying window sill while his right hand maintained a vice grip on the binoculars and growled angrily, _I won't let us get captured and sent off to some camp._ Ed took one more quick look up the night sky as he made another promise to himself, _I _will_ see you again, even if it's the last thing I do. _He then pivoted himself quickly and ran out of the room.

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><p>Ed ran downstairs to catch up to Samuel and arrived to find that everyone was wide awake with Samuel standing by the front door, occasionally looking through the splintered wood to check how close the search party was. Ed looked around and found Al sitting in the middle of the floor trying to comfort one of the escapees.<p>

"Al!" Ed yelled as he ran to his brother's side

"What's going on brother?" asked Al as he began to stand up, "what was that noise earlier too?"

"Al, we got to go. Those sadistic bastards are closing in on us" Ed began "we need to get everyone up and out of this house before they finish combing the area and start searching the house"

"What? But how is that possible?" Al's eyes grew with fear after what his brother had said, "I was sure that we didn't leave any trails that could've led them back here to us!" Al could see the beads of sweat beginning to form on his brother's forehead as the situation just become that much more dangerous.

"I don't know Al, but they're here and we got to move!"

Al shot up instantly but became disorientated from the sudden movement, _Crap, too quick. I really hope brother didn't see that._ However the fact that Al was forced to sit back down told the younger brother otherwise.

"Al, you alright!?" asked Ed as he took a step toward him with his left arm extended in case Al decided to topple over after noticing his uneasy get up. _Crap too late, _Al kicked himself in the head for that slip-up, _now brother will be all worried about me and not everyone else._

"I'm fine brother" was all Al could manage to say without making his brother worry even more, as he placed the palm of his hand on his forehead. _He already has enough lives on his hands as of this moment._

"Alright Al, just don't overdo it ok?" Ed said with a worried look on his face as he retracted back to his original position and walked over to talk to Samuel but continued to throw worried glances at his brother. After about the twentieth time, Al got tired of his brother's over-protectiveness and threw him an a-ok in the form of a crumpled up shirt which landed square at the elder's face.

"What the hell was that for Al?" Ed angrily grabbed the shirt from his face and threw it back at his younger brother.

"Brother, I told you I'm fine so please don't worry about me" Al got up slowly this time and walked over to Ed as he stared determinedly at his golden irises. The older ex-alchemist was slightly taken aback by Al's strength as he now stood almost head to head with him, eyes burning with a never ending fire and willpower. Samuel decided it was best to leave the situation to attend to the other refugees and return once the brothers have cooled down somewhat.

In retrospect, it was surprising to see how much the brother's have changed since their arrival to this world. Despite Ed's height complex he was actually one of the tallest people there, with Al following shortly behind him. Ed still sported his long hair, however it was longer now and he didn't wear it in a braid anymore as he figured that it took too much time to prepare so a ponytail had to suffice, while Al's hair was more maturely cut but it was slowly growing out due to their constant running. Both brothers' bodies were lean and chiseled as a result a seemingly endless amount of physical training; rehabilitation in Al's case. Their faces no longer containing the childhood roundness but is instead sharp and well defined with scattered scars, with Ed having more scars on his body and face than Al's. While the older brother wore a slight scowl on his face, inwardly he was extremely proud at just who his brother had become and gave him a slight downward nod.

"Ok Al, get everyone ready while Samuel and I head back up". Upon hearing his name, Samuel, who was crouching down to talk to one of the others quickly took his eyes off the person and shifted his gaze towards the older brother, who was signaling with his head to head back upstairs. Samuel then got up quickly and jogged over to follow Ed, who was already running back upstairs.

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><p>As Al got everyone ready to move, Ed and Samuel went back upstairs to see just how much closer the search party has gotten since the splintered wood on the main floor didn't provide a reliable view. After noticing the search party had ceased movement, Ed felt his heart stop as he took a look at Samuel who wore the same horrified expression. Leaving Samuel to look out the front window Ed swiftly ran to the back of the house and reached a room which stood another boarded up window and saw 1 of the panzer tanks with their lights aimed at the house. Ed quickly returned and shoved Samuel aside as he looked out the window that Samuel was looking through and saw a similar scene. He quickly realized the formation and the fact that they were out of time. Each panzer tank took a side of the house with all of them pointing their search lights at their designated target, and 10 soldiers positioned by the front door while the rest fanned out to provide support. Ed gulped slightly as sweat began to trickle down his neck, causing his hairs to stand on end. Even the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs was enough to startle the man.<p>

"What's happening outside brother?" the voice caused Ed to jump as he quickly turned around and saw Al at the top of the stairs with his right hand on the rail and his left foot still on the second step. With his golden eyes shimmering in the dark like a cat, Ed could quickly tell that his brother was starting to get extremely worried and figured out that he had to come up to see the situation for himself. Ed quickly waved his brother over so that he could peek through the boarded window. Al took his long strides and closed the distance within a few steps as Ed moved over to let Al peek through. Al gasped slightly as he took a step back and glanced over at Ed and Samuel, all three of them thinking the same thing: That there's nothing that they could do and they fear that this was only the beginning of something catastrophic.

"They got the house surrounded with about 10 storm troopers ready to break in" his voice cutting through the silence and reaching to Samuel and Al as they both turned to give their full attention to Ed. Ed kept his voice to a whisper as he stood with his back against the window and leaned in slightly to look back outside.

"And there" his head turned back to Al as he pointed to one of the panzer tanks "is the damn bastard whose been hunting us all this time." Al followed his brother's line of sight and noticed the same man they had met when they first ran into Samuel and the others.

The man on the panzer tank was dressed in all black, with a matching black officer's cap. He also noticed something that wasn't there when they had met last time. A pin on the officer's right pectoral was glimmering in the light as he shifted his position to bark out orders while pointing in multiple directions. Al looked around and noticed that most of the soldiers were dressed in similar attire, minus the officer's cap but was instead wearing the standard black helmet, and they all had the same pin on their right pectoral, two slivers which Al thought looked like lightning bolts. Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead and neck as fear shot through him, sending chills down his spine. He looked at his older brother with deep worry on his face.

"So what do we do?" asked Al. He remembered the looks of hopelessness and desperation that everyone had. Al thought back to the sight of some praying, some beginning to cry while others just sat there with a hopeless look in their eyes. Those thoughts sent another uneasy chill up his spine.

"We move everyone to the basement and get ready to fight if we have to" Ed said with a hint of fear in his voice, which broke Al out of his thoughts. Al could not imagine the trouble that's going to unfold and wondered what was going through Ed's head as he noticed his brother staring outside with glazed eyes at all the soldiers getting ready to capture them.

_Everyone has their limitations, even if they are as strong as brother, _Al thought to himself as he recollected all the times of how Ed was strong for the both of them, refusing to show signs of weakness and shedding any tears. However now was different, Alchemy no longer existed and Ed was severely limited in terms of his fighting styles as most of it relied on the sacred art.

_How are we going to get ourselves out of this one?_ Ed thought to himself as he continued to look at the armed men. Despite the fact that these weapons existed back home in Amestris, there was something about them that made them more ruthless and dangerously advanced. The thought then materialized in his head as he remembered the one thing that they did not have back home: A vehicle that had the ability to lift off the ground and cut through the air with precise aerodynamics that the people of this world dubbed as an "aircraft". The first time they encountered these types of vehicles, Ed thought that the world was surely going to end. After a few years, Ed and Al realized that these vehicles were new weapons of war and that the world was their guinea pig, used to test out the most advanced and new weapons technology that had the ability to ultimately annihilate the world.

The depressing thoughts quickly began to flood the young man's mind, however, out of sheer willpower he was able to force the memories back into the dam that he had built to suppress them hopefully keeping them locked for the time being. Ed exited his realm of anguish and quickly turned to Al and Samuel who began to stare at him with concern written all over their faces. His eyes quickly returning to its once fiery gold, he managed to straighten out and let out a breath he didn't know he was able to hold for so long.

"Alright, let's get everyone down to the basement as soon as possible" Ed told Al and Samuel, who nodded in agreement.

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><p>"Let's go" he told everyone once they ran back downstairs to meet with everyone else. However, when they were met with dead eyes and blank expressions, it really got the older brother's blood boiling.<p>

"I said move!" he bellowed as he pointed down the steps that led to the basement, and at once everyone shot up and ran downstairs towards the basement leaving only Al, Samuel and himself.

"Whatever it takes Al!" Ed told his younger brother once everyone was downstairs "we survive this and return home."

"Yeah" was all Al was able to spew out.

Samuel stood there looking at the brothers with the gold hair and eyes, eyes that filled with determination and fire that he did not see in the other refugees.

"Look guys" he finally said putting both his hands on the brothers shoulders "I know you're not from this world and I cannot tell you how much I am grateful for what you have done for me and my family" Samuel could no longer look the brothers in eye, especially the elder one as tears were starting to well up in his brown eyes. "Who knows where we would be if...if…" but he couldn't finish his sentence as his voice began breaking up.

Both Ed and Al were taken aback by Samuels' unusual display of emotion. Samuel was considered by his family as the rock, the foundation, the strongest one out of all of them because he would never let anything get to him. The fact that Samuel was showing this side of himself to the Elric brothers must mean that he really trusts them. However, they both began to wonder how Samuel figured out that they weren't from this world as they never discussed this topic before, but pushing that thought aside both of them looked at Samuel's slumped position and a smirk grew on Ed's face.

"We _will _get through this" Ed said, returning the gesture that was placed upon him earlier "I promise". _Heh… another promise to add to my list_. He mentally slapped himself for making another promise but he seriously was not going to let anything happen to them even if it meant sacrificing his limbs all over again.

Samuel looked up, his eyes making contact with the eyes of Ed first, and then at Al's who smiled reassuringly.

"Brother always keeps his promises" he said jerking a thumb over to Ed.

"Yeah" Samuel said as his first smile of the night came into view "let's go". The trio then entered the basement and braced themselves for what might be their last stand.

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><p>Situated on top of the Panzer tank that was facing the front of the house was the leader of the search party. "According to intelligence, the Elric brothers should be hiding in this building along with about 12 others" he said to himself as he got off the tank to join the assault team, "but hiding in this place is damn near suicide, normally I would've just looked past this kill zone and move on but I am to bring the Elric brothers or my entire unit might suffer. So I am <em>not<em> taking any chances with those two."

"Everybody listen up!" he yelled at the 10 storm troopers once he stood in front of the ranks, "the führer has ordered us to keep the Elric brothers as alive as possible." He stopped in front of the house and turned to the front door,

"Execute the rest" and with the forward motion of his hand the storm troopers did what their name intended,

_We've got them now_ the officer thought to himself as a sly grin found its way to his face.


	2. The Ghost of a Friend

A/N: Here's chapter two, sorry if the entire setting for Poland seems out of whack, I tried using a legit city/town and Suwalki is what popped up. Also I am aware of language barriers that is going to take place in this story, so for this particular story everyone is going to speak english... I think.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the name of fullmetal alchemist or its characters and plot.

So unless something drastic comes up that may cause me to do some extreme editing, please enjoy and flames are indeed welcome! (good reviews are welcome too!)

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><p><strong>Betwixt and Between<strong>

**Date: unknown**

**Location: The Portal**

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><p>"Who even needs Alchemy? When I've got my friends?" said Ed as he jerked his thumb to the giant black double doors behind him.<p>

"Heh. You've done it! That's the right answer!" said a shadowy white figure as his smile suddenly grew wide enough to split his face. With a triumphant smile on his face Ed turned around, clapped his hands and pressed them against the black doors. A sizzling blue light began flowing out of Ed's hands as the double black doors slowly disintegrated into nothingness in the form of paper ribbons. "Good job, you beat me! Go ahead! Take him home!" the shadowy figure's arms extended as he continued to speak to the now ex-alchemist. "The backdoors right over there!" he finally said pointing to another set of black double doors behind him "Goodbye, Edward Elric"

As the white shadowy figure disappeared in what also looked like shreds of ribbons Edward finally laid his eyes on the prize that he had been waiting years for: returning home with Al's body. As Ed approached Al's body, he had to rush over to help him up.

"That was crazy Al" said Ed as he picked up Al to support his body.

"Speak for yourself" Al managed to let out as well as a small chuckle as he was able to gaze at his brother's face with his own golden orbs.

The gate's massive doors swung open revealing a white light. Both brothers stared deep into the light, and Ed couldn't help but let a genuine smile creep on his face."Now let's go home, together." Al could only nod approvingly as realization hit them both, their journey is finally over. They took one last look at each other as they both slowly stepped into the everlasting light; with Ed supporting Al's body as the light finally engulfed them.

However, unbeknownst to the brothers Truth reappeared just as the brothers were walking through the portal. "Hm... It seems as though the agent whose soul had escaped my grasp is starting to unveil their ultimate plan in the next world" and as the last words left his mouth, a huge grin exposing his white teeth was planted on his face. "I do apologize but it seems that when Edward sacrificed his use of Alchemy he also sacrificed the portal back into the world of Amestris"

Truth put his hand on his blank face "Very well then, I guess it's time for me to tell my contact that the Elric brothers should be arriving very soon."

The white emptiness that was Truth's realm transformed into a bird's-eye-view of what looked like a grassy plain with hills all around. Truth sat with his legs crossed as he looked down on this new sight, his body blending in with the sky's blue and occasionally white color. An evil grin appeared as he laid eyes on two gold heads at the top of one of the many hills with looks of confusion on their faces.

"We shall meet again young alchemist" Truth said to himself, "...if you survive the upcoming ordeal that is". And with that said truth turned into strips of ribbons as a gust of wind blew across the area and disappeared to return to his realm, his words echoing across the plains.

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><p><strong>Date: Unknown<strong>

**Location: Grassy Plains**

"Brother?..." Al asked, his voice slightly shaking as he looked around the seemingly endless color of green. "Where are we?"

"I...don't know Al" Ed told him as he surveyed the grassy plains. He gently laid down his fragile younger, the weather being warm enough to ensure his survival in his weak state. "I'll be back" he told him as he ran down the hill and up another. With no recognition of their location, Ed ran up and down another hill and spotted a nearby town. His look of confusion quickly turned into anger as he had one of those oh-shit-moments. They were no longer in the courtyard of central command.

"Al!" Ed yelled as he ran back to his younger brother.

"Do you know where we are?" His brother asked questioningly, he could see the angered expression on his brother's face as he turned to speak to him.

"Not in Central that's for fucking sure!" Ed yelled "I saw a town nearby though so maybe we can get some information there!" The wind began to pick up, and Ed wasn't sure if Al could resist the cold wind just yet. Wearing nothing but a muscle shirt and his black leather pants, Ed had no choice but to abandon his muscle shirt in order to wrap it around Al's fragile and revealing body in hopes of blocking out some wind. Ed then bent down and with a quick cycle of rational thinking, concluded that there isn't enough time to walk there with Al's pace, so he picked him up bridal style and began sprinting towards the nearby town.

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><p>The town itself was actually not that far away and the size of it literally was as small as Ed had seen it when he on top of one of those hills. The brothers had entered a seemingly rundown ghost town. Standing at the entrance gate, Ed began to look around, his gold orbs darting left and right and was surprised by the presence of people working in front of their homes. The buildings looked as if no one had taken care of them for years, with many of the buildings' windows boarded up or barred. However Ed looked a little closer and noticed that the houses that had human occupants actually looked as if they were normal houses back in Central. The sheer number of abandoned homes and dusty roads must've covered up nicer looking houses.<p>

"Where are we brother?" asked Al as he dug his face into his brothers shirt, attempting to shield himself from the bright sun.

"We're at the town that I told you about," Ed replied "except it's more like a ghost town. I'm surprised that people really still live here"

"Brother you're definitely over exaggerating" Al said as he was turned to look at the townspeople while a small smile crept up his face, "it's really not that bad of a place, in fact it's a lot bigger than back home at Risembool"

The thought of home brought back many memories to the brothers, and the memories of a particular blonde mechanic began flooding into the elder Elric's imagination. _Damn, I really wish we were back at home, laying on the grass, or something! Anything than being stuck in this… this place! _Ed inwardly screamed to himself as they still stood there, Al on his arms, examining the so called countryside. He really had no idea where they were, and the fact that there were humans automatically ruled out the possibility of them being on a different planet. Ed and Al continued to examine the area, unaware that they were slowly walking towards the heart of town, both looking like they just went through a battle, which in actuality is true. The sudden cries from little kids knocked the two brothers out of their thoughts as they turned around to see a middle aged woman and her two kids pointing at them with deep scowls on their faces.

"Oh my god! Look at those poor boys!" yelled one of the townspeople "Quick someone get him a blanket and something to eat!" Other people began to exit their small homes to find out what the commotion was and noticed the two gold headed boys, one with blood and scars on his face and missing a shirt while the other was practically a skeleton wrapped in very a thin piece cloth. The people began clamoring at the sight, one person managing to throw a small blanket over the weakened Alphonse but before anyone else could contribute to the effort, a pale arm entered the crowd and dragged them into a small home not too far off from the center of town.

Ed couldn't get a good look at whoever their savior was because the person was wearing a brown cloak that prevented any way for him to distinguish the person. The only thing he can conclude from this was that the person has an almost vice grip like hold on his forearm. Ed was also hoping for the wind to somehow blow off the hood that this person was wearing so that he could get a good luck at him but to no avail. Ed had some trouble keeping himself balanced and holding Al without falling and hurting themselves, Alphonse more than himself. The person quickly noticed this situation and decided to slow down to a mere power walk, instead of the usual running they were doing just a few seconds earlier.

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><p>They were led to a yellow and green house that was on top of a little hill that overlooked the main parts of town and had a stone wall that accompanied the dirt path that they had just walked on. The house was a few minutes away from the clusters of homes and shops that made up the heart of this town and at first glance looked somewhat like the Rockbell home back in Risembool. <em>What am I thinking? I have no idea where we are and yet I see a house that almost looks like our home<em> Ed pondered the thought and also began wondering who this person is that is helping them. He managed to conjure up a few scenarios and people but quickly dismissed them due to the impossibility of it ever happening. When they reached the front of the house, the mysterious person unlocked the door and pulled the two of her guests inside. Upon entering, the person ran upstairs leaving Ed to look around and take in his new surroundings.

Much to his surprise, the inside of the home looked as warm as it did on the outside. A set of brown stairs lay in front of him that went up a few steps and then continued off to the right which led to the second level of the building where his new caretaker had run off to. To his left was another room which he assumed was the living room. Ed took a few steps and peeked into the room and noticed that it had a fireplace built into the farthest wall of the room with an old grey couch to its left and a small rug in the middle, and across from the couch was a tall shelf that was filled from top to bottom with books. Ed back tracked to where he started and peeked into the doorway to his right. He saw a small a hallway that quickly ended which revealed another room that looked a lot like the kitchen. Ed also noticed that the wall directly under the stairs held a bunch of photos of people that he didn't recognize until he noticed some pictures of a young blonde girl, but before he could put his mind to work Alphonse tugged at his shirt at an attempt to get his brother's attention.

"Hm? What is it Al?" Ed asked the curious blonde in his arms.

"Where are we now?" He asked, unable to shift in his current position to get a good look at his surroundings.

"Where in someone's home right now, remember the stranger that pulled us away from that crowd of people?" The older Elric asked his brother, and when he received a nod he continued, "well we're in their home right now, he ran off upstairs to get something I think.. but.." the elder trailed off as he continued to repeatedly look to his left and to his right, as if he couldn't believe what he was actually seeing.

"What's wrong?"

"This home… it looks a lot like Pinako's home back in Risembool"

In fact, the inside and outside of this home greatly reminded Ed of the Rockbell household, the layout, the way the furniture was placed and even the tan colored walls formed an exact Replica of _her_ home. Ed couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu and a little creeped out by all of this. Before Alphonse could reply to his brother's previous statement, the quick shuffling of feet down the steps revealed not a man, but a woman holding several blue blankets in her arms.

"Here put these on him" the person said as they handed Ed the blankets and quickly disappeared into the kitchen. Ed saw a flash of a light blonde but quickly took the blankets and thanked them without any concern for their identity at the moment and put Al down on the nearby couch in the living room. He threw the blankets on Al and after he was comfortable on the couch, the younger brother turned to face Ed.

"You need to go find them and thank them brother" Al said, in a tone that Ed knew all too well as _you better thank them for going out of their way to help us or I'll be mad._ Not wanting to anger his brother even if he wasn't sure if Al was capable such an emotion, he gave his brother an assuring nod and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

In the hallway he noticed that there were more pictures and that most of them contained more images of the young blonde girl. Unfortunately, just as the name was beginning to form in his head to match the image in the pictures, the hallway had ended and the older Elric was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He noticed that the lady was no longer wearing her brown cloak and was in fact huddling over the stove, facing away from him. The woman looked like she was putting together a small dish that Ed was assuming was for Al and noticed the long blonde hair that reached her lower back.

"Ah-em" Ed cleared his throat as quietly and as nonchalantly as he could hoping to catch the woman's attention, but when she didn't turn he decided to go ahead and try to thank her anyway. Ed stared at his boots as he tried to formulate some sort of thank you to the woman

"Look um… I just want to thank you for helping us… and that we appreciate your…your.." Ed's sentence began to evaporate as he slowly looked up and saw that the woman who was making food for Al turned around once she heard had his voice. She was holding two plates which Ed quickly figured was for Al and himself, but the presence of food was not what made Ed lose his words and made his jaw drop slightly. It was the person who was holding the plates. Standing in front of him, was a gorgeous young woman. She was wearing blue jeans, a pink long sleeve shirt and a lavender apron that covered the rest of her outfit. Despite the crystal blue eyes, Ed also noticed that the woman wore earrings as well, two silver clamp on earrings on the lower part of both of her ears and two blue pearl blue earrings on the top of her right ear. _She looks….exactly like her_, Ed thought to himself as he gave her a quick scan. Ed's mind began to spin as he realized that everything about this woman's appearance was eerily similar to his best friend back home, _but.. it can't be her._

"Hi there" said the mysterious woman with a warm smile on her face that sent shivers down Ed's spine "here I made food for both you and who I assume is your brother" she slowly walked over to the gaping blonde and handed Ed the two plates of food. Ed took them hesitantly, still not over the fact that this woman looked exactly like Winry Rockbell! Once he realized that he now held the two plates of food, he remembered the reason why he came looking for her in the first place

"Oh um.. in case you didn't hear me earlier, I just wanted to thank you" Ed said, managing to force the sentence out without tripping over his words or spitting it out "thank you for, you know… taking us in."

"Oh it's no problem!" the Winry-look-alike smiled brightly "I always do love helping people after all, and you two looked like you really needed it". _Damn she smiles just like her! Cares for people just like Winry used to…_ the thought itself made Ed smile stupidly back at her. Just as he was about to turn and head back into the living room, another thought occurred to him. He pivoted back into his old position and looked into the blue eyes of his caretaker, almost forgetting why he turned back around

"Oh, I forgot to ask you what your name is" Ed finally asked, hoping that they didn't have the exact same name too.

"Wendy, Wendy Rockbell" she replied with a slight excitement in her voice. _Well at least their first names aren't the same_ Ed thought to himself, _but now she seems to have the same energy and enthusiasm as well! They're already too much alike._

_"_And yours?" Wendy asked.

Shaking his head slightly, Ed could already tell that from the look in her eyes and the slight tilt in her head meant she was beginning to formulate questions that he would have to answer eventually

"Um... Edward Elric, and the kid lying on your couch right now is Alphonse Elric, my younger brother" Ed replied.

"Well then, it is very nice to meet the two of you. Here let's take this to your brother, I can only imagine how hungry he must be" Wendy said, bringing Ed out of his current train of thought.

"Oh right" he said, remembering that he still held the two plates of food.

The two returned to the room in which Al was in, and upon seeing a mirror image of their childhood friend, Al's golden orbs turned into golden pools as they stretched in surprise and gasped inwardly. Ed sat next to Al and his face widened as he noticed the plate of food that was being offered to him. Al took the plate and thanked Wendy repeatedly as he began to hungrily devour the meal, while secretly taking peeks at Wendy who sat across from them.

"You two aren't from around here are you?" Wendy asked

"Um… no. We're not" Ed replied as he placed his food on the small table and began to follow his brother's previous action.

"Oh?" Wendy asked "then where are you from? And how come you two just look like you've been through hell and back?" the implication caused the brothers to momentarily stop shoveling food in their mouths and look at each other. Ed then turned to look at Wendy and finally said to her.

"Well…" but he couldn't find where to start "actually, we have a problem" he ended up saying. Wendy only tilted her head slightly, which was Ed's cue to continue "we want to know where we are, like what country we're in?" This caused Wendy to give him a weird look and then looked at Al who only nodded as he was just as concerned as his brother was.

"Well" Wendy started as she stared at the older Elric "We're in Poland, Suwałki to be exact". The sound of choking sounds, and plates and silverware hitting the floor startled the young light blonde who is now looking at two pairs of extremely disbelieving eyes. The brothers only looked at each other and Ed felt as if he was just slapped in the face.

"Repeat that" he stated.

"Umm.. we're in Suwałki, Poland?" It was as if someone just grabbed a wrench and smashed him repeatedly on his cranium. Just as his worse fears were realized, the town and country did not sound familiar to him at all, as a matter of fact the entire country didn't even exist on this planet! Out of sheer anger, his left fist collided with the table causing all of the contents on top of it to bounce off, almost breaking them and startling Wendy even more.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Ed bellowed, releasing all of his built up rage caused by another one of Truth's games "TRUTH YOU BASTARD!"

* * *

><p>The view of the brothers and Ed's bellowing quickly minimized into nothingness as the entire area was once again engulfed by a white void. "I am not as cruel as you think I am Edward Elric" Truth told himself shaking his head. He then let out a roar of laughter "but then again maybe I am!" Once the echo died down, Truth ceased his torturous musing.<p>

"Well anyway" he said sitting back in his usual Indian style position, "I _do_ need to reach my connection to that world" he said as he extended his arm with his palm facing away from him. A mirror engulfed by what looked like the darkness that surrounds truth all the time appeared and the silhouette of a person could be seen on the other side.

"Hm? What do you want Truth?" the person asked, their voice echoing throughout Truth's realm.

"My, my now is that any way to treat the person who gave you life?" Truth said with an evil grin on his face.

"Cut to the chase" the person demanded with his back facing truth. This caused his grin to be replaced with a deep frown.

"I don't appreciate your disrespect, maybe I should cut the line that is keeping you tethered to that world" truth said with a very serious tone and hints of anger in his voice.

"Ok ok, sheesh. So what's up Truth? Did something happen?" the person put down what he was looking at and turned to look directly into Truth's... face. The person's figure was completely indistinguishable as only the outline was visible thanks to the darkness of his room.

"Indeed something did" Truth started. "Alphonse Elric has been returned to his body"

"Oh? Took long enough" the person smirked "those boys do deserve it"

"Yes they do but now there is another problem among us" Truth sighed as he ran hand over his face.

"So they're finally doing it?" the person raised one eyebrow though it went unnoticed.

"Yes, and it is really becoming a nuisance, which is why I've sent the brothers to your world" truth casually said as the man's eyes widen with shock

"What? But why them?" the person yelled

"Do not annoy me any further. I hope you know what to do with this information" truth said while holding his palm up. An orb materialized slightly above his palm revealing a group of men with a very large brawny one in the center.

"No doubt that _they_ will begin searching for them as soon as a disturbance is felt". Without even giving the white shadow a reply, the person had already bolted out the door leaving the shadow to his own thoughts.

"You better get to them before they do" Truth sighed as he disappeared from sight.


	3. Adjustment of a Tortured Soul

A/N: Hey again! So I am not dead, and I do apologize for not updating lately, school was hectic at first and now that its summer I just have too many responsibilities to handle at the moment. But I have been working on this chapter and although it is hella long and doesn't seem to further the plot, I tried editing it and taking things out but realized that it was all somewhat necessary. My original intentions were to introduce the bad people in this chapter, but as it got way too long I'm going to do it for the next chapter! Anyway sorry for rambling, I should be updating sooner and not every few months. Enjoy!

P.S: I do not have a beta so any flames and/or constructive criticisms are welcome! Also might take down if massive editing is required, thanks for reading! =]

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story... Nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>A few months later…<strong>

**Date: August 12th, 1939**

****Location: Suwałki, Poland****

* * *

><p>Quite a bit of time had passed since the brothers' encounter with Truth and the portal. While hesitantly at first, but with the help of Wendy, the brothers were gradually accepted into her hometown and eventually became a part of them. It took a lot of persuasion since the occupants were very skeptical of two golden haired boys entering their town, but seeing that they were apparently friends with Wendy helped win them over. The brothers were very friendly with the locals, despite Ed having his occasional outbursts whenever someone made fun of his size. Eventually the townspeople learned to steer clear of that pathway, and even though Ed wasn't the smallest person around anymore it didn't stop the youth of the town from having a little fun with the elder Elric.<p>

Shortly after the brothers' arrival, things began to feel a little more like home as Wendy and Ed began to have their usual arguments that the elder would have with Winry. This only caused Al to laugh uncontrollably at their immaturity and how similar Wendy is to Winry, which also caused Al to sadden just a little at the thought that they might not be able to return to Amestris. However, despite their similarities, there were also many things that set them apart, the first thing being that Wendy seemed more calm and compassionate when it came to Ed and himself, although comparing their kind heartedness was hard to believe at first.

* * *

><p>"Hey brother?" Al asked, as Ed was sitting with him on the couch trying feed him some leftover breakfast that Wendy had prepared before leaving the two brothers alone.<p>

"What is it Al?"

"Well I've been wondering" Ed turned his attention to his younger brother, urging him to continue with his thoughts "it's been a few months since we somehow fell into this world, and we still don't know what Wendy does for a living, or if she even has a job!"

"So? What's your point Al?" Ed already knew where this conversation was going but decided to humor his younger brother and play dumb, which did not seem to please Al very much as he let out an exasperated sigh and scowled at his older brother.

"Come on brother, don't play dumb with me, do you think Wendy is a mechanic of some kind just like Winry was?" Although Ed thought he was mentally prepared for this question, it still caught him off guard which resulted in him letting go of the spoon and allowing it to messily splatter across the floor.

"Ugh. I don't know Al, she disappears during the day and we don't see any sign of her until night fall" Ed grumbled as he kneeled on the floor to try and clean up the mess that his brother caused him to create.

"Well, why don't you try looking for her?" Al asked as he remained sitting upright, hoping to get some sort of reaction besides irritation from his older brother. Ed remained silent as he cleaned up the mess and tossed the used napkins in the bin near the corner of the entrance to the living room. As he was walking back, Al noticed that his eyes softened just a little and the wrinkles of irritation had disappeared from Ed's facial features and was replaced by a rather solemn expression.

"I don't know" Ed whispered, as if he was just talking to himself. He sat back down next to Al and began to stare off into space, mainly the fireplace that began to collect some dust due to its lack of use. Al began to ponder what might be running through Ed's mind when he spoke up. "If she doesn't want to be found then I say we respect that and just leave it be, after all she is letting us stay in her home"

"That's true brother, but I'm rather curious on what she does and I think it's best that we get to know her more" Al replied. After receiving no response for about ten seconds, Al began to worry that he might've said too much and brought back too many memories. The sudden rustle Al's blanket and the movement of Ed's body somehow manage to startle the younger Elric.

"I'll be back Al, try not to do anything too much," Ed hastily stated. He quickly got up, stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk towards the front door, but instead of walking outside he walked past the door and began looking around, his head swinging from side to side as he took in the visible stimuli and his high pony tail following suit with the motions.

"Alright brother!" Al yelled back as Ed turned the corner and disappeared from his sight, after which a slight smile was placed on the younger brother's face. _I knew he was just as curious about Wendy as I am, I just hope he tells me what he finds._

As Al was left to his lonesome, he began to look out the window and stare up at the seemingly blue sky. _Almost like home, but not quite._ He quietly thought to himself as he watched the birds fly back and forth, as if they were playing a game of tag or trying to see who can stay in the air the longest. _So… can't do anything too much._ That thought caused Al to chuckle just a little because although he was getting a lot stronger, both Wendy and his older brother forbid him from doing anything too strenuous. This made Al feel just a little guilty as he would secretly sneak out of the house at night to practice his martial arts as an attempt to quicken his rehabilitation.

* * *

><p>Ed quietly walked around the house and noticed that almost everything was exactly like the Rockbell house back in Amestris.<p>

_If everything here is exactly the same… then I wonder what would be in the basement where Winry's shop used to be. _The train of thought caused Ed to walk towards the location of where the basement would normally be, and noticed that the door was slightly open.

_Well here goes nothing,_ Ed took a deep breath as he slowly opened the door that was slightly ajar and quietly stepped down, making sure his metal leg didn't make too much noise. The floors were creaky and all Ed was able to see was a little light at the bottom of the stairs which piqued the young man's curiosity as he quickened his pace. The sound of drilling and cutting reminded Ed of back home as he stopped mid stride to stare at the mirror image of Winry in her work outfit carefully working on some projects at her table.

_What's going on?_ the mere thought of the staircase being a portal back home proved to be both illogical and preposterous as nothing like this is possible in either worlds, at least to his knowledge. But to his disbelief, everything downstairs was exactly the way it was back home in Amestris, including Winry's work bench, the way the machinery was placed, the tools littered all over the ground and even the bed right next to it that was meant for patients and himself when she was checking up on his automail.

Ed could only stare, mouth agape as the mirror image of his childhood friend was working on some complicated machinery, or at least to Ed it was as he tried to decipher the blueprint that was pinned on the wall above the working woman.

_I must be dreaming or something, there's no way that I was able to return home just like that._ Lost in his thoughts, he wasn't aware that his body had taken control and began walking towards the blonde. Next thing he knew, Ed was right behind her with his right hand outstretched, ready to place on her right shoulder.

Winry was slowly drawing and erasing a design that she has been working for some time, but for some reason the design just never seemed right. Just as she was about to call it quits, she felt that someone was behind her, and slowly grasped her wrench that she keeps in the front pocket of her apron, just in case she needed easy access to demolish someone's brain cells. _Someone's behind me, and I'm going to make sure that the last thing he sees is my wrench smacking his head._

Edward stood frozen with his arm still outstretched as he couldn't think of his next move. _Should I tap her on the shoulder? Or turn around and go back upstairs?_

His quick mental process allowed Ed to choose the latter and just as he was about to turn around and head back upstairs, a quick blurry motion of blonde hair and shiny metal flooded his field of vision and next thing he knew he was blinded by a bunch of stars and lights as Wendy swung about and smacked him clear on his head with her wrench.

"AH! Damn it Winry, what the hell was that for?" fumed Ed as he landed on his rear, now rubbing the new purple bruise right above his left eye. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Oh my god! Edward I'm so sorry!" yelled Wendy as she quickly realized who she had just stricken with her wrench. She quickly dropped the weapon and rushed over to help the young man up. Wendy helped Ed to the nearby bed just to the right of her work desk that she sleeps on whenever she was too engrossed in her work and was too tired to reach her own bed back on the second floor of the house. "Hold on, I'll be right back!" and she ran upstairs and disappeared from view.

"What's wrong Wendy?" Al said as he sat up from his usual spot on the couch after hearing Ed's yelling and the stomping of stairs. He thought that Wendy and Ed had gotten into another argument but the look of worry and concern on her face was enough to dispel his original assumption.

"Sorry Al" yelled Wendy as she zoomed past him and began yelling to him from inside the kitchen. "Ed kind of sneaked up on me when I was working and I accidently hit him with my wrench 'cause I thought he was going to hurt me"

The thought of Wendy smacking Ed on the head caused Al snicker slightly as bittersweet memories began to flood his mind, but the opening and rummaging broke him out of his thoughts as he tried to observe what Wendy was doing in the kitchen. When Wendy rushed back downstairs with a small bag, Al quickly realized knew that she was going through the ice box to try and find a decent sized ice block to help ease the migraine that Ed would be suffering from later.

Smiling, Al laid back down on the couch with his arms folded behind his head as he could only imagine the events that are going to unfold downstairs.

_Man, being in another world sure is different, but being in this house still feels like home. _Al thought to himself as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Here Ed, this might help you some" Wendy assured Ed as she placed the small bag of ice on his swelling forehead. After laying Ed down and making sure that he was comfortable, she decided to add some salt to the wound and smacked him across the head<p>

"Can you stop trying to mentally retard me!" yelled Ed

"You shouldn't have snuck up on me like that!"

"Well sorry for trying to find out what you do during the day!"

"Oh.." was all Wendy could say to the now furious ex-alchemist who laid back down and continued to stare at the ceiling "I'm sorry Edward, I didn't let you or Al know because I didn't want you to make fun of me or anything"

"No why would we do something as stupid as that?" asked Ed who continued to avoid eye contact with her ocean blue eyes.

"I don't know… maybe its cause what I do is not what a woman is normally supposed to do?" whispered Wendy she cast her eyes downward and began to stare at the wood paneling of her basement floor. Almost sensing that Ed would downright degrade Wendy for doing something that is supposed to be meant for men sent a wave of shame over her, but instead of rude remarks she was met with a hand who was trying to move her gaze upward to meet his golden orbs.

"Listen Wendy" Ed started, but began blushing after realizing that his right hand remained under Wendy's chin which prompted him to quickly remove his hand and place on his stomach where it should've been. After gazing into her blue eyes for a short moment, he turned his head to again gaze into the ceiling, closing his eyes and letting out a breath as if he was afraid to say the wrong thing, "Al and I appreciate you for taking us in and basically treating us like we're family. There is nothing that you can do that would cause us to be ashamed of you or degrade you in any form"

A weak smile caressed her face at Ed's words as she placed her right palm on Ed's bicep. _Wow he's never been this kind to me before; at least not since the first day we met when he came to thank me for taking them in. _"Thank you Ed, I think that's what I've been needing to hear for a while"

"W-well don't mention it" Ed sputtered, his sudden act of affection and kindness surprising Wendy, "I think it was the multiple blows that you gave me that made me all loopy and nice to you, but don't expect it to happen again" he finished as he turned his to face the near wall, avoiding Wendy completely in hopes that she doesn't notice that blush that was creeping up his face.

Wendy couldn't help but giggle at the young man, because as much as Ed didn't want her to, she did indeed notice that creeping blush and sweat building up on his face.

_Well that explains his sudden change in personality; maybe I should smack his head a few more times. _She slowly reached for her wrench that was lying on the floor while keeping her gaze on the man's body to make sure it didn't shift.

"Don't even think about picking up that wrench" Ed growled, despite not seeing her movements he's still able to predict her. _Typical Winry…_

Wendy sat back upright on her chair, with her arms folded across her chest and a pout on her face for being caught.

After a few moments of silence, Wendy relaxed her composure and much to her surprise, began studying the features of the young man. Wendy began to blush at the thoughts that were beginning to form in her mind and instantly stopped when a thought occurred. _That's right… he called me Winry when I hit him on the head. I wonder who she is?_

"Hey Ed?" she asked softly, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep but hoping that he wasn't.

Much to her relief, he was awake but was lost in his own thoughts.

"What is it?" he asked in his usual tone of irritation.

"Right after I hit you on the head, you called me 'Winry', and I was just wondering who she is?"

The question caused Ed to turn to once again face Wendy's shining blue eyes, her head tilted to side whenever she was curious about something and sucking her lower lip as if she was deep in thought; something that Ed thought was an extremely pleasant feature of both Wendy and Winry. However, the flashback of him calling her Winry was beginning to come back to bite him in the ass.

_Man! I'm so stupid! Why did I have to go and call her Winry by accident! Now if she's anything like WInry, which she is, she won't stop bothering me until I tell her everything about what happened! _Ed yelled at himself for having such a huge slip be caught by Wendy.

Scowling, he turned away from Wendy's gaze in hopes forming his next sentence easier. "It's… it's none of your business Wendy, don't worry about it" was all he was able to get out without hurting Wendy's feelings too much.

"Oh yeah like you calling me by someone _else's _name isn't my business?" Wendy retorted hotly, but was met by an equally short tempered remark

"I said let's drop it ok! I don't want to talk about it" Ed said in a low whisper that caused Wendy to erase any curiosity she might've had about this Winry person. _Maybe… over time he'll open up to me more and tell me where he's from and who this person is. _She thought to herself sadly as she cast her eyes downward again, with her hands folded together on her apron.

"Hey Wendy?"

"Hm?" she answered, bringing her eyes back to meet with Ed's, in hopes that he had a change of mind and decided to tell her.

"Can you tell me what it is that you do exactly?" While it wasn't the response that she was looking for, she was still happy proclaim her obsession to her profession and took it as an opportunity to impress the ex-alchemist.

"Well… You see…"

* * *

><p>To say that Ed was shocked was an understatement when he found out that Wendy was not only a gifted and equally talented metal smith and mechanic as well as an uncertified doctor, but she also owned her own business, which was extremely rare in this country or in any country according to Wendy. Being the gifted alchemist that he was and with his vast knowledge of metallic alloys, Ed decided to help Wendy and her profession. Together, the two blondes were finding more efficient ways to combine metals and creating more durable farming equipment, while Al had to stay back home to regain his lost muscle mass, bodily functions and movements. After several days of gawking at Ed's work ethic, Wendy decided to offer Ed a job at her shop that was located just a few minutes walk away from her home. Ed worked as her assistant during the day and at night they would gradually nurse Al back to health.<p>

"Hey Ed!" Wendy yelled from the front of her shop to the young man was sitting near the back reading some books on physics that he found a few days ago.

"Yeah, yeah what do you want?" Ed said as he closed the book to peer out the door to where Wendy was.

"Can you go into the storage room and pull out some stock parts? A diesel engine in one of Mr. Oles tractors broke this morning and he's asking me to rebuild it for him"

"Alright, alright!" replied Ed, as he began to walk towards the storage room, "jeez what a slave driver" he muttered.

"What did you call me?" yelled Wendy from the front, which caused Ed to shake his hands from side to side in hopes of not receiving a flying metal object to the head.

"Nothing, nothing!" _Crap how was she able to hear me?_ But he brushed it off and proceeded towards the storage room.

Ed walked nonchalantly towards the storage room and began searching for the spare parts. As he looked around he noticed that the spare parts were not only at an unreachable distance, but the size of the box made it impossible to carry down. _What the hell? How did she even get that up there?_

Ed climbed on the first sturdy box that he saw and proceeded his way up the pile and pile of never ending mechanical stock parts, tools and the occasional clothing that Wendy would somehow leave buried in all that junk. Sometime during his trek up the pile of boxes, his left pant leg managed to get snagged by one of the cutting tools that were conveniently placed outside of the box, resulting in a huge gash in his pants and his automail leg exposed.

_Crap. I need to hurry up and get this box to Wendy before her or anyone sees._ For as long as they have been here no one had been informed about Ed's automail leg, or even the brothers' past for that matter; and that was something that Ed intended on keeping it secret. Just as he was about to reach up to grab the box, one of the boxes underneath him began to slip and Ed came crashing to the floor, with the box of the spare parts following suit.

The loud crash from the storage room startled everyone in the front area of the shop. Wendy was working on a smaller part for the diesel engine when it happened, which caused her to over-tighten a bolt thus cracking the plate.

"What was that?" asked Mr. Oles who peered through the doorway to see if he could get a better glimpse of what caused the ruckus.

"I don't know, but let me check it out" Wendy responded. She set her tools, took of her work gloves and began to cautiously step towards the storage room. _Uh.. I hope Edward's alright,_ she thought to herself as she placed her right hand on her chest as she approached the room.

Dust covered the small storage area. Wendy covered her mouth and squinted hard to see through the dust, which allowed her to see that right at the bottom of the pile of boxes and spare parts was a particular golden haired boy that seemed to be knocked out cold.

"Oh no! Edward!" screamed Wendy as she ran by his side. Her yells caused Mr. Oles to come in to inspect what was going on and immediately dove in to remove the materials off of the poor man when he saw Wendy trying to pull the motionless body out of the debris.

"I'm sorry Mr. Oles but is it possible for you to come back another time?" Wendy asked apologetically as they placed Edward on the peach futon that was near the back room where he was reading his book.

"That's alright, no need to worry" said Mr. Oles, "but I think it's best if we take him home instead of having him here at the shop", he looked the young man whose breathing was rather shallow "come on, I'll see if I can fit another person in my poor excuse of an automobile"

"Thank you Mr. Oles, I'm sorry for putting you through all this trouble" Wendy said as they squeezed into Mr. Oles vehicle.

The drive there was quiet as all Wendy could think about was the well-being of her poor assistant. The sudden jerking of the vehicle caused Wendy to exit her realm of thoughts and properly thank Mr. Oles who not only drove them back to her house but helped Ed into the house and on the couch where Al was frantically questioning what was going on.

"He just got hit in the head" was all Wendy could tell him, which seemed to prove sufficient as Al calmed down considerably, "He'll be fine"

Heaving a sigh of relief, Al quietly thanked Mr. Oles and turned to Wendy. "I know he'll be fine. He gets hit in the head a lot so it's nothing that would surprise me" Al said, throwing in a short laugh to lighten the mood.

"In the meantime Al, is it ok if you sleep upstairs tonight while Ed and I stay down here on the couch?" Wendy pleaded as she took another glance at the unconscious gold-haired boy.

"Sure, Wendy. Anything you need" replied Al, "I'll be upstairs if anything happens and let me know when he wakes up"

"Thanks, Al and I will." After Al disappeared from the stairway, Wendy went into the kitchen to wet some towels and brought a trash bin in case Ed needed to heave anything out when he woke up. She then pulled up a small stool and sat there observing the peaceful features of the ex-alchemist. Little did she know, her worrying had exhausted her as a few hours have gone by and the sun was now completely under the horizon and the moon had come up to greet them.

"I think I'll rest a little," she said to herself as she folded her arms on the edge of the couch and slowly put her the side of her head down, continually facing Ed's tense expression. As her eyes flutter closed, the last thing she saw was the twitching of Ed's forcibly closed eyes.

* * *

><p>Where am I?<em> He thought to himself. As far as the eye could see, Ed saw nothing but fields and fields of grass.<em>

_He took a few steps forward and the wind began to pick up. Eventually Ed reached a house that seemed to materialize out of nowhere and as if the house was calling for him, he twisted the rusted door knob and stepped into the house. _

_The house looked a lot better on the inside than it did on the outside. However, something about this house sent shivers throughout his body and the feeling that he was the only one here gave this house an ever unsteadying aura. Taking in a deep breath, he forcibly moved his legs as he stepped further into the house. He came across a flight of steps and seeing that the rest of the house is locked he figured he might as well walk up. The stairs creaked with every step and the only thing he could hear was the creaking of the stairs and the sound of his boots making contact with the ground, one step making a heavier thump than the other. Ed reached the top of the stairs and felt like he just ran 12 miles, as he was sweating and breathing heavily. _Why was that so difficult to walk? _He asked himself as he regained his composure and looked forward. He then noticed a light coming out of one of the rooms at the end of the hallway,  
><em>  
><em>"Someone's actually here?" he silently whispered to himself as he continued stepping. For some reason it seems as though his steps weren't taking him any closer to the light. He wiped the sweat off his brow and was surprised at how much perspiration was present. Ed managed to finally reach the front of the door where the light shine from underneath the wooden barrier and realized that his breathing became more shallow, the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end as he put his hand in the also rusted doorknob. Once his hand gripped the doorknob his mind was flooded with memories, some he recognized and the rest he had no clue what it was about. He exhaled sharply as he realized his surroundings, "home.." he thought out loud and now everything suddenly became clear, why his body was reacting he way it did; he was standing outside of <em>her _room. Swallowing the lump that now seemed to clog his windpipe he began panting and gasping for breath as he slowly twisted the doorknob._

_The inside of _her_ room was nothing like he remembered; instead of scattered tools ad automail blueprints, it was neat and tidy with nothing but the hardwood floor. As he stepped further into the room, the light evaporated and now a single beam was shown in the middle of the seemingly vacant room. His once golden orbs glazed over and his mouth hung open at the sight he saw before him. Almost as if the room was responding to his reactions, etchings of different formulas, circles, runes and symbols coated the walls and a large transmutation circle that he was all too familiar with materialized out of nothingness. He finally took his hand off the doorknob as he realized that there was a shadowy pile in the center. His mind began to conjure up the worse but as much as he wanted to run to the inanimate pile, his legs only allowed him to slowly inch forward. The floors creaked with very step, each step singing a different note that only got louder and louder as the alchemist got close to the center of this massive circle. His breath hitched as the circle brought back the worse of his sins. In the very center Ed realized that it was the transmutation that he and his brother drew on _that_ day, so many years ago._

_"How can someone attempt human transmutation!" Ed shared at the shadowy pile that he figured was the poor result of this experiment. As if almost in cue, the shadowy pile began to stir and rustle, the sudden movement caused Ed to step back a few times and raise his fists in defense. The pile turned into a human shadow and slowly stood up. Its red eyes glared daggers at Ed as it slowly crept forward towards him. He could only stand frozen as his brain repeatedly fired signals to his legs to move and get the fuck out, until the grotesque figure came within inches of him. It exhaled deeply as if something was caught in its throat and it brought up a hand and had its long wrinkly fingers run down the face of the horrified Elric. Ed's eyes shimmered, sweat was rolling down his forehead leaving shiny beads down his cheeks, and the moonlight shining through the window effectively banished the darkness. The sight at hand almost made Ed scream in horror and strike it out of primal instinct. Unfortunately the fear had already injected itself into his body as he could only stare at the figure that he and his brother created those many years ago.  
><em>  
><em>"Ed…ward" it wheezed as it gripped Ed's automail hand, "why Edward… why did you leave me?" The creatures sounded nothing more than a distant memory but as it kept speaking, the voice started to emerge and began sounding more and more familiar.<em>

_"How can you leave granny and me Edward? I've been waiting… for so long; I don't think I can take it much more. "_

_The mention of granny Pinako stirred something in the elder as his mind worked in top gear only to produce one finite result; it was the voice of his beloved childhood friend._

W-winry…? But… that's impossible! Did I really do this to her? No! I couldn't have! _Images and emotions flooded his entire being as he laid eyes on the walking corpse of Winry; the shining blue eyes that were left in the hollow skull only confirmed his fear. _

_"N-no... You can't be her! I never wanted to hurt her! "Ed found power in his legs but instead of running for it, he fell on his knees and gripped both sides of his head with his hands "ahhh!" he looked up and saw the creature once again staring down at him with the ocean blue eyes that were filled with so much pain; pain that he undoubtedly caused. His human instincts kicked in and he crawled away as fast as he could, wanting to find a way to rid himself of the memory. But the creature slowly limped forward, its arm stretched out trying to grip his person. "Edward... Why did you do this to me?" _

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry... I'm sorry" the muttering and twisting of Ed's body caused the blonde girl to stir and crack her eyes open. "Please… forgive me"<p>

Her identical blue irises focused upon a mass covered in sweat and fatigue. Edward was panting heavily, his teeth clenched so tight that it felt like they were going to crack under the pressure, his hands also gripped the sheets until his knuckles turned white. The wet towel that Wendy had placed on his forehead earlier lay thrown across the floor. Alarmed by the situation, she quickly sat up and began trying to wake him from whatever dream was he was having.

"Ed... Edward you need to wake up" her voice was sweet and gentle, almost like Winry's, but unfortunately even her soothing voice was proving to be unable to bring the man out of his current night terror. Not knowing what to do in this type of situation, she thought of the one person who she hoped would be familiar with this kind of action. Wendy ran upstairs to get Al who lay snoring peacefully in his own dream world to see if he was familiar with Ed's nocturnal outbursts.

"Al, Al!" the frantic mentioning of his name and the violent shaking of his body jerked the young man awake as his golden orbs slowly illuminated the dark room.

"Mm... what is it Wendy?" Al quickly rubbed the sleep out of his body and asked her in a more serious tone "Did something happen?"

"It's your brother Alphonse. He seems to be having a nightmare and I can't wake him out of it".

The word 'nightmare' quickly sobered Al. _Oh no, the fact that brother was having his nightmares again meant something horrible was going on. He hasn't had night terrors in a while._ Al quickly sat up and threw his legs over the bed, trying to think of anything that could arouse the nightmares that both brothers had thought had been expelled.

"Do you know what he might be dreaming about? 'Cause all he kept saying was that he was sorry" Wendy asked as Al hopped out of bed and followed her back downstairs to where his brother was.

"Mm it's hard to tell.." Al sadly admitted. In truth, Edward's night terrors are mostly about a few things. It's either a dream about the night of their mothers attempted resurrection, or the dream of him hurting his loved ones one by one or finally the one where he is consumed by darkness followed by the mixture of the other two.

As Wendy and Al quickly went to where Ed was laying, he noticed something that as best to his knowledge never happened during Ed's nightmares; he was crying. Al could only watch in sadness as shining streaks went down Edwards's cheek, the moonlight giving his streaks a silver color. Edward had stopped clenching his teeth but now he was quietly sobbing. Wendy glanced at the two and felt as though something like this had never happened before.

"Um… Al? What's going on here?" Wendy turned to face him, hoping to see if he could confirm her suspicions. When she noticed that Al's eyes began to shine with the moonlight as the presence of tears began to collect in his eyes did Wendy realize that this _never _happened before.

_What could he possibly be dreaming about? _Wendy thought to herself as she slowly walked towards the quivering body. The shivering racked by his silent sobs caused Wendy to break down slightly as she quickly dropped to her knees and placed her gentle palms on Edwards sweat covered chest. The stickiness did not faze the blonde; however Edwards's body cringed at the contact as if he knew who was touching him despite his unconsciousness and was out to hurt him.

"Edward" the young blonde started "please you have to wake up, it's only a dream." The quiet sniffles from Wendy caused Al to walk closer to the two to try and better hear what was taking place.

"You have to wake up Ed, I'm here, and so is Al. No one is here to hurt you. Please, I want you to wake up… for me" the last part was almost completely inaudible but it was loud and clear to the younger Elric. He noticed what was going on between the two, and while the entire situation was anything but the familiar to Wendy, the shiny droplets present in her eyes were enough evidence to satisfy Alphonse's suspicion. _Despite not knowing each other very well yet, they're already emotionally connected. _

The two sat there and tried to comfort Ed for the rest of the night, with Wendy never letting go of his right hand and Al looking through the night sky wondering how everyone is doing back home.


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

A/N: Um... I have no excuses for not updating for almost a year, but I did hit a writer's block and school didn't do anything to help lol.. But on the bright side, I managed to free some time by dropping my most hated class (PHYSICS YOU SUCK) and decided to blow the dust off this story to see if I can further improve it. Only problem was because so much time had passed, I forgot my initial ideas so I had to quickly sum up some new ones lol, but all is well now! Anyway... enjoy the read!

P.S, I still don't have a beta and I haven't written anything english related for about a year now, so excuse me for any noob mistakes that I will most likely have! I tried to self edit as best I could, let me know you spot any! Also, constructive criticism is gladly accepted, as well as reviews! =]

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially the timeline that this story is based in!

* * *

><p><strong>Two weeks and one day later…<strong>

**Date: August 27****th****, 1939**

**Location: ****London, Great Britain**

* * *

><p>A middle aged man dressed in a black trench coat and a matching beret is seen walking down the streets of London, his right arm suspiciously tucked away inside the left pectoral pocket of his coat. Any average person who sees this man may think that one, he might be anti-social, or two, that he might be completely off of his rocker; wearing all black during the hot fall months, or a mixture of both. While he was waiting to cross the busy streets, his eyes began to dart right and left to make sure that he wasn't followed. Thankfully this didn't raise any suspicion due to the square-framed sunglasses shielding his wandering pupils. The mere thought of the enemy planning on stealing his information causes him to clutch the brown envelope in his hand that much harder. The people waiting around him would occasionally steal glances at him in disgust as they take a few steps away from him like they were going to catch some vicious disease; however, he pays no heed to this type of behavior, especially with them not knowing what he knows and what is about to happen. The streetlight flickers, signaling that it is time for them pass and the officer in the middle of the street gives them the 'ok' to cross, but stops the man in the middle of the intersection as if to tell him what all of the civilians around him had already been thinking. Instead, the officer took out his whistle and jerked his thumb to the nearby phone booth. Exchanging head nods, the officer put his whistle back into his mouth to resume his duty, while the man proceeds towards the phone booth, cautiously looking over his shoulder in another paranoid attempt to look for curious eyes.<p>

Once inside the phone booth the man looks at the dust covered phone and began trailing his fingers up the wires to make sure that it wasn't cut. In the back of the telephone the man pulls out an unmarked white envelope with some gibberish written on it. The contents of the envelope consisted of two shiny coins: a sixpence and a florin. Knowing that this was more than enough to operate a public phone he put the money in the coin slot, and pulled out the just as dusty phonebook. The man quickly pulled out the brown envelope and slipped into the cracks of the phonebook in case he was to be ambushed from behind, and began to input the digits of the phone number using the rotary panel. After two rings, the man put the book down on the little table jutted out beneath the phone and began tapping his finger impatiently as the ringing kept on going with no sign of anyone picking up on the other end.

"Come on, damn it… pick up already!" the man growled through clenched teeth, and just as he was about to hang up and try again, a voice was heard through the receiving end.

"Hi, Albert's butcher shop where the best meat is just a cleaver away!" the worker at the shop enthusiastically claimed. "How can I help you?"

Perking up at the sound of someone else on the line, he quickly collected himself and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, hello there, I'm wondering when Albert will be coming in today?" the man waited for a few seconds while the person on the other end began rustling through papers, "it's ok if you don't know. I mean there is just something that I borrowed 15 days ago that I need to give back"

"Oh! Well why didn't you say so earlier?" the receptionist asked cheerfully, "If you may hang up and wait a few seconds, I will get him to call you back."

"Sounds perfect," the man said "please tell him not to be late."

"Will do!"

The sound of clicks and a dial tone set the clock in motion as the man put the rusty phone back onto the receiver. It seemed like hours have gone by when really, it's only been a few minutes but nonetheless, Albert was late as usual. Finding this to be a perfect opportunity to reminisce, the man sighed while he leaned his back against the glass wall, rethinking this entire assignment. Unconsciously he pulled out a photo, one that he always pulls out when things began to get heavy in hopes that it would calm him down some. Even after all of the time he's been here, the smiling woman and little girl smiling back at him still brought a smile to his face as well as bittersweet memories.

_I don't think I will ever be able to return to you two…_ the man sulked, and as tears were about to accumulate in his hazel irises the ringing of the phone jerked him out of his stupor. Taking off his rectangular sunglasses to rub away the unwanted liquid, he took a couple deep breathes to make sure that his voice would not shake when he picked up the phone.

"About time you called me back" the man answered with his usual calm tone back in place as he put his glasses back on, pushing them upward with his middle finger. "I was beginning to think that you forgot about me."

A deep but rough laugh could be heard through the receiver, "Sorry about that, it's a bit hectic at the shop right now," the English accent could easily be distinguished through the ocean of background noises. "So you said you had something that belonged to me?"

Remembering the brown envelope that he had carefully tucked away in the old phone book, he quickly pulled it out and glared at it, "Yes, I have it with me right now…" he swiftly began to go through the pages of the phone book until he came across one particular address. "A gift from your wife Roseanne"

"Oh? From my lovely Roseanne you say?"

"Yeah, she's quite worried about you at the shop" the man quickly remarked as he scribbled down the address. "Said she didn't want you to overwork yourself…" he quickly sneezed twice into the phone with no attempt to cover it with his hand "Excuse me, it's really dusty in here,"

"That's quite alright" the British man replied, coughing twice into the receiver "but pardon me, it seems as though all of this yelling is making my throat sore. By the way how is my Roseanne doing?"

"Really great actually. Especially since Roseanne is mainly hanging around people near where you are."

Another deep throated laughter could be heard as the background noises seemed to have dissipated. "Really now? Close to the shop then?" the man could hear the grunt on the other end as he assumed that Albert sat down somewhere, his office probably. "Is she nice to the people up here? Don't want her ruining my business" Albert ended with a deep chuckle. The man hesitated to answer as he heard Albert shuffling through papers, and continued once the unwanted noise disappeared.

"She is a sweetheart Al." the man said with a smile on his face, almost as if he could feel the embarrassment radiating from Albert.

"Well then that _is_ a surprise!" Albert said with another chuckle, "it seems as though she is sweet to everyone _but_ me!"

The remark caused the man to laugh as he thought of an idea to continue embarrassing Albert.

"Be grateful man, otherwise the innkeeper will nab your gorgeous woman."

"Hey hey, no need to involve other men who might be interested." Albert said as he continued to laugh at the jokes and sarcasm that were being thrown around, "I might just have to deal with them later" he snickered as he continued to work jot down some information while juggling the phone with his shoulder.

"Not tonight." The man said with a long sigh but with the toothy grin still plastered on his face, "you're overreacting."

"Am not," Albert said with a hint of immaturity, "I just love my wife is all."

Laughing once again, the man decided to let it go, "The innkeeper's actually nabbing Miss Veronica who's across the diner on East Avenue" he reassured, and hearing a sigh of relief showed that he had done good.

"That is good news, glad to hear that he is also doing well." Albert shifted in his chair and ran his hand through what little hair he had left on his head. "Do you think Veronica will go for it?"

"It's probable," the man answered, his smirk still in place of the deep frown he held before Albert called and sighed, "he overextends his luck when attempting to negotiate the diner prices." The man finished with another series of sneezes following an apology and blame to the floating dust in here*.

"All to impress a little girl eh?" Albert inquired as he dropped the pen to cover up another coughing fit.

A few minutes of silence had gone by before Albert conjured up any words to tell the man. "Listen, I'm getting kind of tired of talking on the phone…" the man could almost feel Albert's face darken as he reread the information he just transcribed, "how about we meet in person so that you can return my property?"

"Of course" was all the man could say as they both hung up without so much as a goodbye. He placed the phone back where it belonged and once again leaned against the door of the phone booth. _Things can only get worse from here on out._ He thought to himself as a quick rumbling sent him back to reality.

The telephone stand twisted in a 180 degree turn and sank into the bottom of the floor, disappearing from sight. A center console with multiple buttons and LEDs took its place, its flashing and ringing telling the man to press the green button that was on the top right corner**. While the man had done this a million times since his recruitment, he still feels a mixture of vertigo, unease and excitement caused by the adrenaline whenever he pushes that button. The floor around him lit up, the white lights converging to where he was standing and in a blinding second, the floor collapsed into a tunnel-like fashion and began racing towards the center of the Earth.

Outside, the police officer that was making sure that traffic didn't turn into some crazy accident noticed that the red phone booth that the man in the trench was now vacant of life. _Good thing I kept everyone from entering that part of the street_ he mused as he reached for the hidden microphone hidden in his right sleeve. Spitting out his whistle, he held his sleeve close to his mouth and spoke in a low voice as if someone was already around to try and eavesdrop on his conversation

"The weirdo's here" he whispered, "tell everyone to prepare for the worst. With him returning so soon it can't be good." After another moment, the police officer put his sleeve down and shoved his whistle back into his mouth to continue directing traffic as if nothing had happened at all.

* * *

><p>The glass doors of his vehicle slid open, the hydraulics hissing as they ground to a halt, revealing a dark corridor with only dim rectangular lights lined up at the bottom of the walls illuminating the area. The doors quickly slid shut as soon as he stepped out and the capsule shot back up towards the surface, the resulting gale sending shivers throughout the man's body. Looking back towards the dwindling sight of the capsule, the man began to tread his way towards the seemingly endless corridor until he came across a pair of large metallic doors. Almost instinctively, the man took his right glove and placed his hand on the scanner located right next to the impenetrable doors. The scanner beeped twice and a green light flickered, triggering the locking mechanism of the doors to begin moving. The man stood back, awed at the infinite numbers of gears, hydraulics and rods that made up the doors lock to completely retract. The doors shook the area as they were slowly opened and a blue light filled his vision as he laid eyes on a site that he called home before he was assigned to his reconnaissance mission. The movement of the doors alerted everyone of his presence as they ceased their current activities to gaze at the man dressed in black. Everyone stared at the odd fellow, and the man only stared back at the crowd, wondering if they thought that he was an enemy spy.<p>

_Well… not quite the welcome I was expecting…_ The man thought to himself as he glided down the steps, not making eye contact with those around him. _But I guess that is what happens when you're gone for a few years._

The stabs of cold eyes continued to pierce the man's being as he walked past the workers until a soft voice spoke up, "Hello? Excuse me, sir?" the fact that someone was actually addressing him as 'sir' caught him off-guard. The man stood still as he debated whether or not he should respond to the attention or continue walking around the base until he ran into Albert. However, being referred to as an officer brought back some memories which helped decide for him as he turned around and let out an exasperated sigh but was stopped mid-exhale as he took in the young woman standing in front of him.

"Yeah, what is it? And please don't call me 'sir'," the man remarked with a tone that came out harsher than he had intended to. "You make it sound like I'm some high ranking officer when really; I'm just a field agent." He took off his glasses and began to clean them with the cloth that he pulled out of his trench coat pocket.

"Sorry sir… uh I mean… well… everyone here is kind of wondering if you're some enemy spy, but then I asked myself, why would an enemy spy come through the front doors?" the young woman said as she looked the man up and down, wondering why he decided to wear the all black attire when everyone else around him is wearing a dark maroon.

"Heh, yeah well…" the man started as he made eye contact with the young lady. _I knew it, everyone here did think I was some enemy spy or something. _He thought to himself as he let out another sigh and continued his response, "I'm kind of in a hurry and I really need to talk to Albert"

"Oh! So you were the man that called earlier saying you had something that belonged to him?" the young woman eyes brightened as if she had just made a friend with a total stranger.

"Oh? The receptionist?" the man questioned the lady. After her nod of confirmation he continued to ask, "Yes, well it's nice to finally see you in person but do you know where I can find him?" the man's tone had long since softened as a result of his initial rude remark to the young lady, "it's ok if you don't know though, I can always walk around until I find him" however, unbeknownst to her his real intention was to walk around and see what everyone else is up to. It was of the utmost importance for him to find out if they were up to par on what is going on with the rest of the world.

"Why yes I know where you can find him!" the young lady chirped happily. The plan to see what is going on went down the drain as he smiled reluctantly to honor her enthusiasm.

"That sounds great! Please take me to him," the man asked politely as she quickly turned a 180 and began leading him down another corridor, one not as creepy as the one prior to entering the base. _She must have no idea what is really going on then,_ he pondered to himself as he quickly followed her, less she lose him in the crowd of people who returned to their work.

The walk was quiet, so the man figured he needed to strike a conversation to cease this awkward silence. "Are you new here?" he asked as he maintained eye contact with the brunette hair that was swinging side to side in front of him.

"Why yes, I am" the young lady answered as they continued to walk at a slower pace. "I just transferred a few weeks ago…" she suddenly stopped which cause the man to almost run into her but good thing he stopped in time. However, he stared at her dumbfounded as she stood there with a bright smile on her face and her right hand extended, "My name is Grace!" she announced happily, "what's yours?"

_My name…?_ the man asked himself as he looked up towards the ceiling as if to sort out the different memories to dig out his name. As a matter of fact, he had gone through so many identities and aliases in the time he had been away that he almost forgot which one was his true name.

"Heh, well funny you should ask," the man admitted to Grace as he shook her hand but didn't let go, "I've actually gone through so many different names to avoid being caught that I kind of forgot which one was the real one…" he finished off as he let go of her hand and went to scratch the back of his head, at the same time while letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh…?" Grace's voice sounded puzzled, her head cocked to one side with her right index finger near her mouth as if she was contemplating on whether or not she continue talking to this weirdo. But instead of turning tail and running, she just smiled at the man, "Then what was your most recent alias?" she asked him, "I can call you that if you'd prefer."

"Of course, but do you mind if we continue walking? It's kind of urgent that I meet with Albert" the man after noticing that they spent quite a bit of time trying to introduce each other.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Grace clapped her hands together and began to bow apologetically. After her episode, she straightened out her blouse and skirt, cleared her throat and with a forward gesture with her arm, the two continued on their way. With a nod, the man continued walking and silence once again fell amongst the two.

Stopping in front of a set of double doors, Grace turned to face the man who is examining the material that made up the window and cleared her throat which got the man's attention.

"Well, here we are!" she beamed, presenting that door like a school project. "I do hope everything is alright."

"Hopefully, it will be" the man replied "thanks for taking me here Grace." He took out his hand and she received it without hesitation. As they began to part ways, the man called out after Grace who turned with her smile still in place.

"If we do meet again, my name is Mark Harrison" the man said as he twisted the doorknob and pushed the double doors aside, leaving Grace with a curious look on her face.

* * *

><p>Albert's office was dark with only an orb of light coming from a desk lamp on the corner of his workspace, his lamp casting shadows to the rest of the room.<p>

"Kind of a depressing scene here ain't it Al?" Mark said to the man who has just now lifted his head from his desk. "Jeez, man you alright?" Mark asked, after witnessing the lack of sleep in the man's facial features and the beard already revealing itself.

After a few attempts to slap himself awake, Albert finally managed to speak a few words to Mark. "Haven't had much sleep because of what's been going on," he told him.

"I bet, I haven't been sleeping much either but then again after what I went through I'm surprised I'm able to sleep at all.' Mark replied, pulling out a chair and deflating in it. With his eyes closed, Mark's memories flooded his mind of all the scenarios that he had to endure to retrieve this type of information. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he pushed his glasses upward and leaned forward on his chair so that he could put his elbows on the table.

"I can't imagine what you had to go through to get this" Albert finally said, his voice low and his face dark. "I haven't told anyone else yet." Though the news should've shocked and angered Mark, it was expected as this type of news was like dropping a bomb on an entire nation.

"They need to know soon, so that they can begin preparing" Mark whispered back, his forehead resting on his folded hands, "we're going to need all of the help we can get.. Maybe the American's ca-"

"No!" Albert quickly cut him off, "they have declared a state of neutrality and I doubt that the American people would want to be involved with another one of our affairs." Albert took a deep breath and leaned back on his chair, twirling his pen and staring at a single sheet of paper lying in between the two men.

"There _must_ be a way to receive aid without the entire nation becoming involved!" Mark frantically stated slapping both of his hands on the table and standing up to face Albert, "Maybe it can be a business venture or something! Anything! Cause we sure as hell need _something_!"

Entering a state of deep thought, Albert began running through the available options that they have that might help them without publically calling for the Americans for help.

"Making it seem like a business venture to promote economic growth might work, but it will take a whole lot of convincing to get Roosevelt to try and persuade his people to agree on it." Albert finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Just try and get it done," Mark said as he circled around the desk to put his arm on Albert's shoulder, the past few days of stress and contemplation clearly presenting itself in the form of the man in front of him. "Try and get to Roosevelt using that Churchill character; heard he's pretty popular now and may even seize a position up in parliament."

"What do you mean?" Albert inquired, turning to face Mark and asking him to sit back down to get into the details.

"I mean… the current Prime Minister isn't doing a very great job, or maybe he is but I can care less about him, but this guy, Winston Churchill, is as active as one can get when it comes to freedom and if we can get him to become Prime Minister before this whole situation grows out of control we can squash it before it even begins." The speech drained a lot more out of Mark than he had intended, but it needed to get out there… and he wasn't even finished yet. "Churchill can definitely get through to Roosevelt and strengthen our alliance in case things do take a turn for the worse." After saying that Mark returned to his chair, having the blacks of Albert's eyes trail him back to his seat.

The look on Albert's face was a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. _Is this really the guy that I recruited all those years ago?_ Mark, seated in front of him had grown in both stature and wisdom. "I'll see what I can do," Albert told him "I can make some calls and pull some strings but if the encryption is accurate then we either need some sort of time stopping device or we're royally fucked."

"Agreed," Mark nodded at Albert's logic, his right hand on his chin trying to simulate both the worse and best case scenarios. But after a couple of runs, Mark realized that this wasn't the only information that he wanted to relay, "but boss…" Mark sat up straight and leaned forward, putting the palms of his hands together with his thumbs pointed upward.

"What is it Mark?"

"I got more bad news, news that I'm afraid I can't send through via encrypted message or telephone call"

The atmosphere in the room must've dropped, as well as the temperature as their surroundings became isolated and cold. A shiver went down Albert's spine as he leaned forward on his arm chair to try and understand every single world perfectly so that he won't have to ask for repetition. "Spit it out" he demanded.

"Well… you know Stalin and his Soviet Union?"

"What about him?"

"Well, several of my guys that managed to infiltrate Moscow had reported back that he just allied himself with that cryptic narcissist and is plotting something even I can't get a hold of."

Silence blanketed the room, the humming from the desk lamp providing the only source of audio entertainment as the news sank in. The shadows created by the lamp continued to cover the men's facial expressions as they continue their otherworldly conversation.

"That's a very bold piece of information Mark, do you have any evidence to validate that your intel wasn't warped?" Albert quietly asked as the situation could go from bad to worse if this information is indeed true

"I'm positive chief, my guys were in there like hawks, and I also wouldn't put it past Stalin to pull something like this either" Mark replied, his eyes glowing in the darkness like he had just acquired some feline characteristics.

"Then for what it's worth, I'll take your word for it and assume that the alliance between them formal and active, but are you sure that this has something to do with the message you sent me Mark?"

"Definitely. That over enthusiastic bastard wouldn't pull such a move if he didn't have someone with a strong militaristic presence to back him up."

"I see," was all Albert could say as he laid back on his chair to absorb the sudden flow of bad news. He placed his hand on his chin and was about to enter some realm of soul searching when he suddenly realized the item that Mark had borrowed and is supposed to be returning. "Mark, you did remember to return what you borrowed right?"

"Hm?" Marked mumbled as he sat back up, realizing that the brown envelope was still in his trench coat pocket. "Ah yes of course I remember!" he reached for the parchment and threw the contents on the table, watching as it slid across and stopped right in front of Albert.

As Albert carefully opened the envelope, a letter and a picture of what seemed like three kids leaving a home glided out. "Hm? Is this picture of some significance?" Albert inquired as he studied every feature the surveillance photo had to offer before his eyes laid on Mark, seeking answers.

"I'm afraid so…" Mark replied stood up with a grim look on his face and began pacing around the room. Seeing Mark as nervous as he was, Albert waited until they made eye contact once again and raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. "Remember the two boys I've told you about whose presence can alter the course of this world?" Mark resumed.

"Yeah I do remember you telling me, almost as much as you telling me about the family that you were forced to leave behind"

The mention of family elicited a few coughs of embarrassment from Mark as he continued his explanation. "Well… my family aside, those two boys were spotted near the German border and since then I've had my best agents keeping their eyes on them to see what they were up to. It seemed that they decided to head east and began living with the girl in the picture." The seriousness in the Mark's tone and his stone facial expression almost meant as if this conversation was really going to determine the fate of the world.

"So…" was all Albert was able to say at first "you're telling me that the Elric brothers, the alchemical geniuses from your world is alive and well, here in this world?"

Sweat began to bead around Albert's forehead at the hesitant nod from Mark, "and what of the girl?"

"Her name is Wendy and she is the counterpart to the brothers' childhood friend back where I'm from" Mark replied as he sat back down in the chair across from Albert. "I've also been having my men keep an eye on her in case the Jerries had some plan to kidnap her to incite the brothers to act" he added.

"That is some major intel you've gathered throughout the years Mark, and now here's the essential question" Albert whispered as he continued to stare at the picture of Wendy and the two boys in the background, "how should we proceed to act now? If what you say is accurate and to the dot, then we probably don't have much time until they make their move which would more or less result in the death or capture of these three children." Hands folded with his elbows on the desk, Al rested his forehead as he tried to come up with some light-bulb moment that would ease the severity of the situation.

"Easy" Mark scoffed, "we find them and get them back into safe borders as fast as heavenly possible, I know that they need the brothers alive and that they are willing to use Wendy as collateral if they have to" he once again stood up and leaned against the nearest wall, the shadow engulfing his upper torso.

"However, I don't know what the eastern bastards are planning to do with them, but I'm not waiting to find out." He unfolded his arms and began dragging his feet to the door, with his hand on the doorknob he turned his head back and uttered,

"That picture was taken some time ago, so their current location is bordering invalid, and because we have this type of information we need to assume that the Krauts do as well, the more we wait the higher the chance of this world plunging into Hell"

"I see," was all Al could mutter, "I'll do what I can." He put the photo in a folder and instead stared at a half sheet of paper. Without looking at Mark he asked "by the way Mark,"

"Hm?"

"How did you manage to acquire all this information anyway and still be alive?" his hands shaking due to anxiety for his answers.

"Heh" Mark answered, his hand still on the doorknob, "Let's just say that I had to dig long and hard until I discovered the Truth." He opened the doorknob and assimilated with the shadows that made up the doorway.

"The Truth huh?" Albert quietly mumbled to himself. Now all alone to battle the darkness that is his office, he quickly stood up after finally absorbing this dire information. "I need to break the news to the entire Ministry of Defense. Parliament is definitely _not_ going to like this!" and with that he bolted out the door, the wind from his sudden movement deciding to take the half sheet of paper with him.

The message, whose final resting place is now in the middle of the floor in Albert's office is what gave the initial spark:

'Germany is going to invade Poland.'

* * *

><p>* - So, I tried doing a coded message of the initial conversation between Al and Mark and tried making it sound as fluid and natural as possible.. it kind of worked I guess? Haha but yeah, for those who wanted to know, after the two sneezes is where the message starts and if you take the first letter of every second word, it'll form the real message Mark was trying to relay to Albert. Again I tried..<p>

** - So yes this sounds completely futuristic and does not comply with the time period and most of you will be like 'uhhh wtf?'. But let me elaborate: there was a lot of technological advances because of this war and not all of it was even known to the public, sooooooo thanks to my skeptical and conspiracy-making side, I believe this type of thing could have actually existed lol.. maybe the underground base was a long shot but still this is why I like fanfiction =]. And plus Great Britain was extremely known for their agents, double agents and espionage activities =D.

Hope you guys like it, and I know that I said this last time but I will once again try to update more frequently!... I really hope lol.


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